Ex-Penn State Officials to Be in Hearing in Sandusky Case

By Sophia Pearson -
Jul 29, 2013

Ex-Pennsylvania State University
President Graham Spanier and two other former officials will be
in a court hearing today on whether they must stand trial for
hiding information tied to the Jerry Sandusky sexual-abuse
scandal.

Spanier, former Athletic Director Timothy Curley and former
Vice President Gary Schultz are accused of crimes including
endangering the welfare of children, conspiracy and perjury. The
men have pleaded not guilty to the charges, which stem in part
from their testimony before a grand jury.

“The preliminary hearing is, as the name suggests, a
preview of the prosecution’s evidence and not an indicator of a
defendant’s guilt or innocence,” Caroline Roberto, an attorney
for Curley, said in an e-mailed statement. “The prosecution
only has to present the bare minimum of evidence to convince a
judge a trial is necessary.”

The hearing in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, state court comes
more than a year after Sandusky, a former football defensive
coordinator, was convicted of 45 criminal counts tied to the
sexual abuse of 10 boys over 15 years. He was sentenced in
October to a minimum of 30 years in prison.

Legal wrangling stalled the case against the former school
officials. Lawyers for the men argued that the grand jury report
should be tossed out. Their challenges made it to the state
Supreme Court, which denied the request without comment in June.

Trial or Plea

“It seems pretty clear that the prosecution is not going
to drop this case,” Wes Oliver, director of the Criminal
Justice Program at Duquesne University School of Law in
Pittsburgh. “That leaves one of two possible results -- a trial
or a plea. As the public interest in this case has died down, a
plea is more likely than it was previously.”

Spanier, who was fired shortly after Sandusky’s arrest in
2011, was charged in November with engaging in what prosecutors
called a conspiracy of silence.

The ex-president is accused of one count of perjury, two of
endangering the welfare of children and two of criminal
conspiracy, each a felony punishable by as long as seven years
in prison and a $15,000 fine. He is also charged with
obstructing the administration of law and failing to report
suspected child abuse.

Freeh Report

The charges followed a July 2012 report commissioned by the
university and prepared by Louis Freeh, a former director of the
Federal Bureau of Investigation. Investigators concluded that
Spanier, the late ex-head football coach Joe Paterno, Curley and
Schultz hid critical facts about Sandusky’s abuse. Paterno, who
died in January 2012, was never charged with a crime.

Paterno and Spanier were trying to avoid bad publicity,
Freeh’s report said. Spanier’s lawyers disputed the findings,
calling the report a “blundering” indictment that distorted
the facts. Spanier this month filed a notice in state court in
Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, that he intends to sue Freeh for
defamation.

The preliminary hearing that starts today may run as long
as three days. It will be Curley’s and Schultz’s second court
appearance. Magisterial District Court Judge William Wenner in
December 2011 ordered the men to face trial for perjury and
failing to report that a member of the football program told
them he saw Sandusky molesting a boy.

Curley and Schultz, who are free on bail, were charged with
additional crimes in November when Spanier was charged.

Wenner ruled after hearing testimony from Mike McQueary, an
assistant football coach, who said he saw Sandusky molesting a
boy on campus. McQueary testified he told the accused men
Sandusky was standing behind a boy who appeared to be 10 years
old in a locker-room shower in February 2001, both naked and the
coach’s arms around the youngster.

No Report

Neither Curley nor Schultz, who oversaw university police,
reported the incident to law enforcement or tried to learn the
boy’s identity, prosecutors said.

The men denied to a grand jury that McQueary told them of
the incident and said the incident was described by McQueary as
“horsing around” and “inappropriate” conduct.

McQueary was terminated in July 2012 when his contract
expired. He sued Penn State in October for $4 million in lost
earnings. That case is pending. A judge in April denied the
university’s request to dismiss it.

Victim Settlement

Penn State is trying to negotiate a settlement with victims
of Sandusky’s abuse. It said July 12 that it approved formal
offers to some.

The university has said it plans to compensate victims with
money from insurance policies and funds set aside from interest
on loans. It spent $46.8 million through April 30 on issues
related to the Sandusky scandal.